What is Rough and Tumble? Mettle Maker #404 and Holy Eucharist for 5/5/24

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What’s the weekly mettle maker?

Training tips and educational info in support of our free programs, that’s what! What’s mettle? Mettle is, “The ability to meet a challenge or persevere under demanding circumstances; determination or resolve.”

Announcements!

All three of our original programs are now unified under the name Heritage Rough ‘n’ Tumble. Now, when you enroll, you can split your practice time any way you want between self-defense, fitness, and outdoor skills, and spiritual development. Focus on one or two, split your attention evenly, whatever you want! This maintains individual freedom and ensures that we all progress together as a unified group!

Sunday worship Service is now called Holy Eucharist instead of Holy Communion. Why? Because back when Fr. Mitch was a deacon, he was only able to present Holy Communion of the Reserved Sacrament (using pre-consecrated hosts provided by his bishop). But now that he’s been elevated to the priesthood, Fr. Mitch is able to perform a more traditional Holy Eucharist service.

What is Rough and Tumble?

Again, all of our programs — self-defense, fitness, and outdoor skills — are now unified under the rubric of Heritage Rough ‘n’ Tumble. In order to understand why we’ve made this change, you need to know a little bit of the history.

ROUGH ‘N’ TUMBLE

Rough ‘n’ Tumble, as a fighting method, is hard to tease apart from it’s historical environment.

Rough ‘n’ Tumble was a manner of no-holds-barred fighting that originated in the Southern Virginia backcountry during the Colonial Era.  An amalgam of the varying techniques brought to America by colonists from all over the world, blended with the fighting methods of the over 900 distinct indigenous tribes, American Rough ‘n’ Tumble is perhaps the world’s most fearsome martial art.  Many of the old techniques were no doubt lost, but many also found their way into boxing, wrestling, and the mayhem-managing methods used by mobsters, policemen, soldiers, and citizens.  Although it was never formally codified, Rough ‘n’ Tumble used to be a household word, and dedicated martial artists and researchers, like Mark Hatmaker and myself, are diligently laboring to bring together the various sources and make it so once more. 

If I had to boil it down to one sentence, what makes Rough and Tumble different from other martial arts is that strikes are grabs, grabs are locks, and locks are strikes -- all are one.   Yes, all are one in more ways than one. You see, what we’re realizing more and more is that Rough ‘n’ Tumble, as a fighting method, is hard to tease apart from its historical environment. It’s hard to fight like an old-timer if you think like a modern person. And it’s hard to step into the old-time mindset without immersing yourself in that world.

It boils down to this:

  • BODY MECHANICS. Old-timers moved differently because they worked and lived differently. They rode horses, mucked stalls, carried buckets, swung hammers, axes, and sledges, and so on. Daily life profoundly affected their body mechanics.

  • FITNESS. Their definition of fitness was different because they got plenty of exercise from the way they worked. Fitness in those days wasn’t about musclebuilding. It was about maintenance and restoration of health in body and mind.

  • SELF-DEFENSE. The times they lived in were more violent and warlike, which meant that the way they fought was far less sportive. Even when they fought for “sportive reasons” it was less about money and fame, and more about settling disputes in a lawless country or advancing within the hierarchies of various groups, like miners, loggers, military services, and so on.

  • ACCOUNTABILITY. The day-to-day survival of a rough ‘n’ tumbler was dependent on his knowledge of, and attention to, the world around him. There were no early warning systems for attacks by invading armies, tornadoes or floods, not even a simple weather forecast. There were no phones, no 911 operators, no first-responders, and no emergency rooms. There were no supermarkets or big box stores. If a crop failed or a disease claimed domestic animals, hunting and gathering ensued. There was no social safety net beyond family and church, no insurance for health, life, or even home. Old-timers lived or died by their own senses and wits. They were fully embodied, engaged, and accountable in ways that we can scarcely imagine.

If you want to be like the old-timers, you need to practice self-defense, fitness, outdoor skills, and spiritual development the way the old-timers did.


And that’s why we’ve rolled everything into one program called Heritage Rough ‘n’ Tumble.

For more info on the fighting aspects of Rough and Tumble:

Holy Eucharist is LIVE on YouTube every Sunday at 10 am EASTERn. Click HERE to watch live. To view and print a copy of the program for holy Eucharist, CLICK HERE.

Homily for Sunday, 4/21/24 – Father Mitch

 

Readings: Acts 4:8-12, Ps 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28, 29, 1 Jn 3:1-2, Jn 10:11-18

 

John 10:11-18 World English Bible Catholic Edition

 

“I am the good shepherd.* The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12  He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them. 13  The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care for the sheep. 14  I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own; 15  even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. 16  I have other sheep which are not of this fold.* I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd. 17  Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, * that I may take it again. 18  No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”

 

 

Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd” who “lays down his life for the sheep.”  Steeped as we are in Christianity and its values, this is easy to hear in a certain familiar way.  Jesus is Lord, his church is his flock, we follow his lead and obey his commandments, he leads us good pasture which is eternal life, and so on.  This is familiar ground for us.  But we must not let this become so familiar that it gets boring.  We cannot afford to nod off.  We can’t snooze on this point.

Jesus’ words were very scandalous at the time.  There’s a reason why, immediately following this, in Verse19, we read,

 

“[A] division arose again among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them said, “He has a demon and is insane! Why do you listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the sayings of one possessed by a demon. It isn’t possible for a demon to open the eyes of the blind, is it?”

 

Why were these words, so tame to our Christian ears, so inflammatory?  Because the theme of the shepherd king is as old as the Hebrews’ most revered prophets, and Jesus is invoking their ancient words of criticism.

 

Jeremiah scolded the kings of Israel for their abuses, proclaiming,

 

“Behold, the days come,” says the LORD,

“that I will raise to David a righteous Branch;

and he will reign as king and deal wisely,

and will execute justice and righteousness in the land.

6 In his days Judah will be saved,

and Israel will dwell safely.

This is his name by which he will be called:

The LORD our righteousness. (Jer 23:5-6)

 

And Ezekiel picked up the same theme, saying,

 

11 “ ‘For the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so I will seek out my sheep. I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. 13 I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. (Ezekiel 34:11-13)

 

Yes, Jesus’ words angered the leaders of his day because he echoed accusations they had heard many times, from the mouths of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and also Zechariah, to whom the Lord said,

 

“Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock! The sword will strike his arm and his right eye. His arm will be completely withered, and his right eye will be totally blinded!” (Zecharaiah 11:17).

 

We need to hear the words of Jesus right now, just as the Jews heard them then.  Because merely human shepherds of all kinds – religious leaders, political leaders, social, community, and educational leaders – are always waxing and waning.  Some openly work evil.  Some do great things for a time and then lose their way.  Ultimately, all fall short of the glory of God. 

But God is eternal.  He will not fail us.  And this, brothers and sisters, is the thing that Jesus implied that most angered the leaders of his day.  This is the fact we take for granted that was so scandalous at the time: that Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep.  That Jesus is the Son of God who came to earth to gather together his flock from all the peoples of the earth – who laid down his life for his sheep, and then took it up again, rising from the dead.

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*10:11 Isaiah 40:11; Ezekiel 34:11-12,15,22

 *10:16 Isaiah 56:8

 *10:17 Isaiah 53:7-8